Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour?
The impact of anthropogenic disturbance on the fitness of prey should depend on the relative effect of human activities on different trophic levels. This verification remains rare, however, especially for large animals. We investigated the functional link between habitat selection of female caribou...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 |
id |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 2024-06-23T07:51:59+00:00 Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? Dussault, Christian Pinard, Véronique Ouellet, Jean-Pierre Courtois, Réhaume Fortin, Daniel 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 1746, page 4481-4488 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2012 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 2024-06-04T06:23:06Z The impact of anthropogenic disturbance on the fitness of prey should depend on the relative effect of human activities on different trophic levels. This verification remains rare, however, especially for large animals. We investigated the functional link between habitat selection of female caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) and the survival of their calves, a fitness correlate. This top-down controlled population of the threatened forest-dwelling caribou inhabits a managed forest occupied by wolves ( Canis lupus ) and black bears ( Ursus americanus ). Sixty-one per cent of calves died from bear predation within two months following their birth. Variation in habitat selection tactics among mothers resulted in different mortality risks for their calves. When calves occupied areas with few deciduous trees, they were more likely to die from predation if the local road density was high. Although caribou are typically associated with pristine forests, females selected recent cutovers without negative impact on calf survival. This selection became detrimental, however, as regeneration took place in harvested stands owing to increased bear predation. We demonstrate that human disturbance has asymmetrical consequences on the trophic levels of a food web involving multiple large mammals, which resulted in habitat selection tactics with a greater short-term fitness payoff and, therefore, with higher evolutionary opportunity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Rangifer tarandus The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 1746 4481 4488 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The impact of anthropogenic disturbance on the fitness of prey should depend on the relative effect of human activities on different trophic levels. This verification remains rare, however, especially for large animals. We investigated the functional link between habitat selection of female caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) and the survival of their calves, a fitness correlate. This top-down controlled population of the threatened forest-dwelling caribou inhabits a managed forest occupied by wolves ( Canis lupus ) and black bears ( Ursus americanus ). Sixty-one per cent of calves died from bear predation within two months following their birth. Variation in habitat selection tactics among mothers resulted in different mortality risks for their calves. When calves occupied areas with few deciduous trees, they were more likely to die from predation if the local road density was high. Although caribou are typically associated with pristine forests, females selected recent cutovers without negative impact on calf survival. This selection became detrimental, however, as regeneration took place in harvested stands owing to increased bear predation. We demonstrate that human disturbance has asymmetrical consequences on the trophic levels of a food web involving multiple large mammals, which resulted in habitat selection tactics with a greater short-term fitness payoff and, therefore, with higher evolutionary opportunity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dussault, Christian Pinard, Véronique Ouellet, Jean-Pierre Courtois, Réhaume Fortin, Daniel |
spellingShingle |
Dussault, Christian Pinard, Véronique Ouellet, Jean-Pierre Courtois, Réhaume Fortin, Daniel Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
author_facet |
Dussault, Christian Pinard, Véronique Ouellet, Jean-Pierre Courtois, Réhaume Fortin, Daniel |
author_sort |
Dussault, Christian |
title |
Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
title_short |
Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
title_full |
Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
title_fullStr |
Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
title_sort |
avoidance of roads and selection for recent cutovers by threatened caribou: fitness-rewarding or maladaptive behaviour? |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 |
genre |
Canis lupus Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 1746, page 4481-4488 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1700 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
279 |
container_issue |
1746 |
container_start_page |
4481 |
op_container_end_page |
4488 |
_version_ |
1802643151268085760 |